Stories about the experiences of a registered nurse. You are not alone!
Now working the Psych Ward.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

How to Evaluate a Bad Employee

Running a ward is not an easy job, except for Satan’s
favorite children who shirk responsibility and get away with it every time.

One of the tasks of the nurse manager of a ward is to review
the performance of the support staff every year. For Satan’s children, this is their
opportunity to reward those they like and strike down those they don’t like.

The clerk thought the review was inaccurate in that she is a
fantastic employee who works very hard.
The charts fall apart because other people drop them and she is not
their servant. Papers are misfiled because other people misfiled them.

I eavesdropped on the meeting with the clerk, nurse manager,
and one of the higher-ups. Predictably,
the nurse manager was wrong for giving the clerk a bad evaluation because
multiple write-ups are required before someone can get a bad score; otherwise,
the employee proceeds through the year, thinking their job performance is
great.

The higher-up changed the clerk’s evaluation to a perfect
score over the objections of the nurse manager.
The clerk joyously fled the room, screaming back at the nurse manager, “I told you I would win, you stupid bitch.
Now I’m going to tell everyone they were right about you. Go fuck yourself.”

The nurse manager said to the higher up, “See? This is what I deal with every day from her!”

The higher-up shrugged and said, “She’s just venting. What you did to her was wrong. Let it go and learn your lesson for a change. We are tired of fixing the problems you cause
on your ward. You need to get along with
your staff.”

The higher-up left the room, leaving the nurse manager
sitting there, dumbfounded.

I went in.

“You weren’t wrong,” I told the woman.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Here’s my advice, for what it’s worth,” I offered. “From now on, give every employee the highest
scores possible. You can’t win. They will not become better employees and
start treating you like a human being.
If anyone questions the perfect scores, tell them that all of your staff
embodies the values and behaviors that this hospital cultivates and rewards.”

She laughed.

“No, I’m serious,” I went on. “You make misery for yourself giving them bad
reviews. In any other place, such
behavior would merit termination, not a raise and a pass at coming in late and
cursing out your manager for the next year.
A perfect review does not translate into a lot of money. If a clerk or orderly is not at the top of
their salary grid, the most money they can get for an excellent review is
$500. It doesn’t come out of your
pocket. Let the company pay these
horrible workers a few extra hundred a year.
This is what they want.”